What did everyone think of our game of the year selections? It was really difficult to pick this year with so many standout titles. My favorites that didn’t make the cut this year had to be Wargame: European Escalation and Crusader Kings II. I’m still trying to expand my tiny European bloodline, but man is it difficult. More games like it, please! I’d love a modern science fiction colony management sim that takes Alpha Centauri and Crusader Kings II and combines them.

News bits:

A state senator from California says you, gamers, have no credibility in the violent videogame debate and should pipe down already. [via GamePolitics]

Riot Games bans Team Solo Mebdi from competing in the League of Legends Championship Series European Qualifier for violations of The Summoner’s Code. [via League of Legends]

Who wants to talk about the 2016 presidential election when you can discuss the 2020 elections? Me! [via NPR]

Self-proclaimed multitaskers are the worst at doing two things at once, according to research. Yes, that means you, person trying to talk on your cellphone and drive at the same time. [via Yahoo! News]

Make sure you log-in and check your filters if you can’t see the following:

“Souls thread? Souls thread. I started a new game of Demon’s Souls last night. I haven’t played it in a couple years. I started as a thief and I’m gonna use just a simple dagger until I get the blueblood sword which has always been my favourite weapon in that game. The stats requirement are silly (18 in everything) and it strangely scales with luck but it’s got such a cool moveset. Also someone remind me if there are any shields worth using besides the purple flame? From what I remember it was far and away the best all around shield in the game.” [by NastyJack]

“THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY! What are you folks playing this weekend? I think I’ll be doing a bunch of PS2, but I also hope to get some more Strike Suit Zero in – I had a chance to play the first mission on Thursday night and thought it was pretty cool. I’m also not sure I’m done playing Dwarf Fortress, which I played a bit over the past few weeks, which was then replaced with some ANNO2070 – until I got annoyed with one of the campaign missions where I just couldn’t seem build a sustainable economy – not to mention being able to complete the objectives of the mission (this was mission 3 of the second part).” [by trOmblyj]

Nightly file:

SMITE open beta client downloader. “SMITE is an online battleground between gods. Players choose from a selection of gods, join session-based arena combat and use custom powers and team tactics against other players and minions. SMITE is inspired by Defense of the Ancients (DotA) but instead of being above the action, the third-person camera brings you right into the combat. And, instead of clicking a map, you use WASD to move, dodge, and fight your way through the detailed graphics of SMITEÂ´s battlegrounds. ” Download the client launcher here.